Category Archives: Stamp Issuances

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It’s only October, but the holidays are right around the corner. The Postal Service has an exciting lineup of holiday stamps that will be available soon. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the things we have in store.

The PoinsettiaForever® stamp will be released this Thursday, October 10, at the ASDA National Postage Stamp Show in New York City. The vibrant issuance depicts the rich red and deep green leaves surrounding the flower.

On Friday, October 11, two more holiday stamps will be released at the ASDA stamp show. One is the Virgin and Child by Jan Gossaert Forever® stamp, which features Gossaert’s 1531 painting Virgin and Child.The other is the Holy Family Forever® stamp, which features an illustration showing Joseph leading a donkey that carries Mary and Jesus, guided by a star shining in the twilight of a desert sky.The Global Forever®: Evergreen Wreath stamp will be released on October 24. This international rate stamp offers a single price for any First-Class Mail International® 1-ounce letter to any country in the world.And that’s not all. New issuances slated to be released later this fall include new Hanukkah and KwanzaaForever®stamps, in addition to the awesome new Gingerbread Houses Forever® stamps. Check back soon for more details!

The 2013 Inverted Jenny issuance features a new version of perhaps the most famous error in the history of U.S. stamps: a 1918 misprint that mistakenly showed a biplane flying wrong side up.

Collectors be on alert: this week, the Postal Service announced it has printed 100 additional sheets of stamps of the recently issued Inverted Jenny stamp — but with the plane flying right side up.

These very limited edition stamps were circulated with the recent issue of the most famous “misprinted” stamp. Customers who have recently purchased the new Inverted Jenny stamp could have a very limited edition of the famous stamp.

Unique to this stamp issuance, all sheets were individually wrapped in a sealed envelope to recreate the excitement of finding an Inverted Jenny when opening the envelope and to avoid the possibility of discovering a corrected Jenny prior to purchase.

Individuals purchasing “corrected Jenny sheets” will find a congratulatory note inside the wrapping asking them to call a phone numberto receive a certificate of acknowledgement signed by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.

The idea for creating the “misprinted misprint,” came to light after the Postmaster General mentioned the stamp to customer groups shortly after it was previewed in January.

“Our customers were enthusiastic about printing a new version of the most publicized stamp error in U.S. history as a great way to spur interest in stamp collecting,” said Donahoe. “Some jokingly commented that we should be careful to avoid repeating the same mistake of nearly a century ago. That was the impetus behind this initiative. What better way to interest a younger generation in stamp collecting?”

Just days after the Postal Service issued the new $2 version of the most publicized stamp error in U.S. history — the 24-cent 1918 Curtiss Jenny airmail stamp depicting a biplane flying upside down — Glenn Watson of Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, purchased the new $2 version with the biplane flying right side up.

“I’ve been collecting U.S. and Canadian stamps for more than 50 years,” said Watson, who ordered his Inverted Jenny stamp sheet through the Postal Store on eBay. “By far this was a total surprise, and I can now relate to how stamp collector William Robey felt when he purchased the original sheet of 100 Inverted Jennys in 1918. Clearly this right-side-up version will be the treasure of my collection. I hope this stamp will encourage younger generations to get involved in this educational hobby.”

Order a new Inverted Jenny today! The stamp is available online at usps.com/stamps, by calling 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724), and at Post Offices around the country.

This year we are proud to continue our commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812 with a stamp on the Battle of Lake Erie. This critical battle produced an American naval hero, Oliver Hazard Perry, and gave us the famous line, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

For the stamp art, we’ve selected William Henry Powell’s famous painting, Battle of Lake Erie. The oil-on-canvas painting, completed in 1873, was commissioned by the U.S. Congress and placed at the head of the east stairway in the Senate wing of the Capitol. It depicts Oliver Hazard Perry in the small boat he used to transfer from his ruined flagship, the Lawrence, to the Niagara.

Courtesy U.S. Senate Collection.

The War of 1812: Battle of Lake Erie stamp will be issued in September as a Forever® stamp in sheets of 20 self-adhesive stamps. (Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.)

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Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lady Bird Johnson, who was born Claudia Alta Taylor on December 22, 1912, in Karnack, Texas. Her nickname stems from childhood, when a nursemaid remarked that she was as “purty as a little ladybird.” It turned out to be an appropriate moniker for the future First Lady, who spent much of her childhood outdoors in East Texas bayou country and developed a lifelong love and affinity for nature.

This set of six First Day Covers features a a different affixed Lady Bird Johnson (Forever®) stamp and a First Day of Issue color postmark. Click image for more info.

Mrs. Johnson will best be remembered for awakening the nation’s environmental conscience. “Getting on the subject of beautification is like picking up a tangled skein of wool,” she wrote in her diary on January 27, 1965. “All the threads are interwoven—recreation and pollution and mental health, and the crime rate, and rapid transit, and highway beautification, and the war on poverty, and parks—national, state, and local.”

Using the nation’s capital as a model, Mrs. Johnson, with the help and encouragement of philanthropist Mary Lasker, organized a committee that raised private funds to plant trees and flowering plants in the monumental areas of the city. Her efforts prompted local businesses and others in Washington, D.C., to begin beautification efforts in less touristy neighborhoods. She also encouraged community involvement in efforts to improve public spaces, schoolyards, and parks.

President Johnson supported his wife’s initiatives as part of his own strong commitment to the environment, and she worked with her husband to enact such landmark legislation as the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Program.

Celebrate the legacy left by a beloved First Lady with this full sheet of six Lady Bird Johnson (Forever®) stamps cancelled by four black postmarks. Click the image for more info.

Mrs. Johnson is perhaps best known for the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which sought to control billboards and remove or screen junkyards that blighted the nation’s highways. She remained committed to highway beautification after leaving the White House and supported the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987, which allocated federal funds for landscaping projects using native plants, flowers, and trees along the highways.

In 1982, on her 70th birthday—when most people are focused on retirement—Mrs. Johnson dedicated herself to the creation of the National Wildflower Research Center. The center has grown into an international leader in research, education, and projects that encourage the use of wildflowers and native plants. In 1997, a new, larger facility in Austin, Texas—renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center—continues Mrs. Johnson’s commitment to promote the beauty and sustainability of native wildflowers, plants, and landscapes.

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Illustrated with gorgeous historic and contemporary photographs of some of the greatest dancers and choreographers of the 20th century, A Century of Dance is the perfect gift for the dancer or dance lover in your life.

“A Century of Dance” is available from The Postal Store. Click image for more info.

Three stamps issued in 2004 honoring Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine, and Agnes de Mille

We have three copies of A Century of Dance to give away today. To enter all you have to do is send your name and address to uspsstamps [at] gmail [dot] com. Winners will be chosen at random. The deadline for entries is midnight EST, Wednesday, December 19. Good luck!